My Review: Growing Up Gracie by Maggie Fechner

I think it's safe to say I love the cover for this book. It's kind of a throw-back of simpler times, where life feels less complicated.

And I can say the same about the book. Maggie tells the story of Gracie, starting as a young child and going all the way through her marriage. Gracie is a regular girl--not too shy, not too outgoing, not too pretty, not too plain--but really that's mostly how she describes herself. The one in the family who gets the least attention.

Gracie and her two best friends, Liza and Chelsea, aren't immune to troubles. But they face them all in different ways. Liza is wholesome and humble--the ideal best friend. Chelsea is the explorer of the group--she has to experience the fire before she'll believe the pain. They provide a balance for Gracie as she faces the uncertainty of her life through the death of a sibling, her first crush, finding her testimony, dating, and more.

I enjoyed the story. Growing Up Gracie is the kind of story you can relate to--Gracie is the kind of character we care about. She's strong without knowing it. She's brave without realizing it. And she grows into herself a little at a time, just like we all do. The book starts out with a little teaser of the boy Gracie eventually loves, and each time she met a new one I asked myself, "Is it him?" That was pretty fun, really. :)

I'm not going to give away all of the secrets of Growing Up Gracie. But, if you want to find out for yourself, you can find a copy HERE.

And you're definitely going to want to check out Maggie's BLOG. We're introducing ourselves as new authors. Also, check out Dan Harrington's BLOG and Michael Knudsen's BLOG. I'll review their books over the next couple of weeks.

My prize? A $15 Amazon gift card.
How do you enter to win? Leave a comment on this post--or when I talk about Dan's book next Monday, or Michael's book the Monday after that--telling me you've visited Maggie's, Dan's, and Michael's blogs--and tell me one memorable thing from each blog.
If you follow their blogs, you'll get an extra entry in my drawing. Bonus!
I'll even give you an extra entry if you repost my review, or post the link to my review on Facebook or Twitter. But you have to tell me what you've done.

I will tally up all of the entries on Feb 4th--that's when my contest ends--and announce the winner Monday, Feb 7th. You'll need to check back here on that day to see if you're my winner.

Good luck, and happy blogging!